Courthouse News reports that Apple's plan to settle with parents over its failure to get parental consent before minors made purchases in various apps has been approved by a federal court. Apple's settlement would provide all class members with a minimum $5 iTunes store credit (or cash payment for those who no longer have an iTunes account), according to court documents.

Apple announced today that its app store is nearing the 50 billion app download mark. Since its launch, the Apple App Store has seen almost 50 billion downloads of various apps for its iOS devices. Apple also announced that the person who downloads the 50 billionth app will receive a $10,000 App Store gift card, while $500 gift cards will be given to the individuals who download the first 50 after that milestone.

Game Developer Vlambeer can't seem to catch a break when it comes to other developers cloning their games. Their latest game to be cloned on the Apple App Store is Vlambeer's upcoming title Luftrausers. SkyFar is very similar to Vlambeer's game - in fact, except for a few minor aesthetics it looks identical to Vlambeer's game.

When Apple applied for a trademark for the smaller sized iPad last year, the US Patent and Trademark Office replied to its request by saying that the description for it was not enough to warrant approval because it would be covered under what it already holds for the iPad.

Apple has refused to include Auroch Digital's Endgame: Syria on the Apple App Store and has removed Sweatshop HD - a collaboration between U.K. studio Littleloud and Channel 4, according to this Polygon report. Both games, it seems are a little too controversial for Apple.

Ridiculous Fishing and Serious Sam: Random Encounter developer Vlambeer says that "non-evil" free-to-play game design is almost impossible and that game developers should not be afraid to price their games at $3. Vlambeer's Ridiculous Fishing, which almost saw the studio go under during development, went live last week on Apple's App Store and garnered strong sales and critical acclaim from fans and critics.

Indie strategy developer and publisher Slitherine has signed a licensing deal with Games Workshop to develop a new strategy title set in the popular Warhammer 40,000 universe. While Slitherine says that details of the deal (including the content and features of the game) have not yet been announced, development is already underway on multiple platforms.

Polygon has an interesting interview with Plague Inc. developer James Vaughan, who reveals to the publication that he has been asked to speak to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. Plague Inc. is a unique strategy game for iOS that lets the play take control of a deadly pathogen and infect one person - patient zero - with the end goal being to spread the plague to every corner of the globe.

It looks like Apple has just gotten its hand slapped away from Samsung's cookie jar - according to a report this morning on AllThingsD. Judge Lucy Koh, the judge overseeing the Apple-Samsung patent trial threw out part of the billion dollar verdict Apple had previously won in the long-running case and ordered a new trial to determine damages for patent infringement.

Your young son or daughter comes home and asks the one question you worried that you would inevitably have to answer since the day they were born into this world: "Where do babies come from?" Well as Apple used to be fond of saying, there's now an "app for that." It's called Birdees, and it is an educational app for iOS devices created by Vancouver-based educational entertainment software developer GoTo Educational Technology Inc.

Apple has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit related to children inadvertently making purchases in the Apple Store for iOS devices, according to Reuters. The class action lawsuit concerned customers who were charged when their children downloaded applications from the company's online store.

Popular crowd funding platform Kickstarter has launched an app for iOS devices today that allows users to have more streamlined access to their favorite projects. The app promises the community the ability to "discover new projects, watch project videos, and get updates from projects and your friends." For project creators looking to get some funding from the community the app allows you to "stay connected with your backers, track your project’s progress, and post updates from wherever you are."

The Tetris Company announced that the New Jersey District Court has delivered the company final judgment in its case against game maker Xio. The company filed the lawsuit in 2009 alleging that Xio's game Mino for iOS infringed on the copyrights and trade dress rights of Tetris. The court ultimately sided with The Tetris Company, which owns the licensing rights to the popular franchise.

The designer of an iOS game that focuses on Syria's ongoing civil war is defending his game and explaining why he created it in the first place: to inform those people around the world who might be ignorant about the conflict. The game, Endgame Syria, is decidedly pro rebel forces and gives players choices like negotiating peace with President Bashar Assad's regime or sending jihadist fighters to kill the pro-government military forces.

When the NRA-branded iOS app NRA: Practice Range launched earlier this week (nearly on the one month anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting that took place in Newtown Connecticut on December 14, 2012) it carried a rating of ages 4+.

It's hard to argue against a culture of violence influencing children when you release an iOS app that teaches kids ages 4+ how to aim a gun and more accurately shoot. Not that the newly released NRA-licensed game developed by MEDL Mobile, Inc. will turn your tiny tot into a killing machine - nor does the game include any type of violent content save the ability to fire a handgun at human shaped targets and clay targets. And to its credit, the game also offers plenty of safety tips for players to keep them from doing stupid things - we assume - in real life.

Apple announced that its App store saw 2 billion downloads in December, along with a number of other milestones that happened in 2012. All in all, the numbers show that Apple's app Store had a pretty good year.
According to data released by Apple, 40 billion apps have been downloaded since the store opened in 2008; 20 billion of those downloads occurred in 2012; there are now 775,000 iOS apps available in the store; there are over 500 million active iTunes accounts; and app developers have made $7 billion dollars from the 70 percent cut they get of sales - since 2008.

Hackulous closed its doors for good, according to a report from TorrentFreak. The entire community that catered to offering cracked apps for Apple's iOS devices seems to have unceremoniously died or shut down yesterday. This includes Apptrackr, the web-based partner index for cracked apps; and Installous, an app used by millions to transfer those cracked apps to iOS devices.

Zynga will shut down a total of 11 of its social games as it finds new ways to cut costs to fulfill the cost reduction plan announced by CEO Mark Pincus in November of this year. When Pincus made that announcement he said that 13 games would be shut down. The list of games scheduled for closure covers 11 on that list.

On Christmas day iOS and Android device activations were greater than any other day in history, according to a new report from mobile analytics company Flurry. As highlighted by VentureBeat Flurry claims that over 17 million new smartphones and tablets were activated on Christmas day. Compared to the rest of December, new iOS and Android activations rose a whopping 332 percent on Christmas Day.

Just a friendly public service announcement: you can get the first episode of The Walking Dead game on Xbox Live and for iOS devices right now for free. While many claim the free episode of the game will be available until the beginning of the new year, it is probably best to download the game while it's available for sure. Why take chances, right?

The Walking Dead has already won numerous awards for creating a classic adventure game with an intense narrative from the popular comic book series and television series.

Forget about the so-called "fiscal cliff" the country faces in January, the debate over gun control or any other important pressing issues that matter in the United States - what's important to Barbara Walters and ABC seems to be what the President of the United States and the First Lady do in their off time. During the most recent Barbara Walters special, she gets the First Couple to divulge... their favorite iOS app.

Following yesterday's ruling by U.S District Judge Lucy Koh that rejected Apple's motion for a ban on the sale of three older Samsung devices still being sold in the U.S. that infringed on the company's iPhone-related patents, Samsung has decided to withdraw all of its requests for injunctions against Apple products currently pending in European courts.

Here's a not-so-shocking revelation about 2012: games were the most popular software on iOS devices in 2012 according to data released by Apple and collected by Inside Mobile Apps. Seven of the ten highest-grossing iPad apps and ten highest-grossing iPhone apps were games, according to the data.

According to All Things D, Apple has secured the regulatory approvals it needs from China to bring the iPhone 5 to the region, and this morning the company announced a release date for the phone: Dec. 14. Apple will launch the iPhone 5 after it launches the Wi-Fi versions of the iPad Mini and its fourth-generation iPad on Dec. 7

If you have ever thought to yourself "what would happen if Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and actor Danny Trejo teamed up to fight crime?" then the iOS game "Vengeance: Woz With A Coz" may be worth a look. The game turns that "other guy" that helped start Apple into an 8-bit hero in a side-scrolling beat 'em up, alongside popular actor Danny Trejo (Machete, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Sons of Anarchy). Woz solicits the help of Trejo after his wife is kidnapped.

According to this Reuters report, Apple is now complying with local warranty laws in Italy after the company was threatened by the Italian government with shut downs of its local businesses and hefty fines if it did not comply. Last week Apple stopped selling its AppleCare warranty plans in its retail stores in Italy. The paid warranty program from Apple offers coverage after the limited warranty on an Apple product expires.

A new research paper from Google reveals what most gamers already know: the majority of tablet users spend more time playing games than anything else on their device of choice - whether it be Android, Windows, or iOS-based. In fact, Google's research found that gaming is the most popular activity on tablets right behind checking email.

iPhone iOS 6 users are complaining that since they have started using Apple's new operating system for its hand-held devices, they have seen a dramatic increase in the amount of data they consume. UK publication The Guardian is reporting that a number of iOS 6 users have been complaining about a "significant hike" in their data usage, which translates into higher monthly mobile data usage bills.

A judge in the United Kingdom has delivered a stinging rebuke of Apple, ordering the company to run ads publicly apologizing to Samsung. This ruling comes after the same judge ruled that Samsung’s Galaxy line of tablets does not infringe on Apple iPad patents. While Apple has better luck in other regions with its patent lawsuits, the UK seems to have dealt the company the most embarrassing of blows.

Shout box

Infophile: @Matt: Apparently Dan Aykroyd actually is involved. We don't know how yet, though, but he's apparently going to be in the movie in some way.08/02/2015 - 4:17am

Mattsworkname: I still hold that not having the origonal cast invovled in any way hurts this movie, and unless the 4 actresses in the lead roles can some how measure up to the comic timing of the origonal cast, i just don't see it being a success08/02/2015 - 12:46am

Mattsworkname: Mecha: regardless of what you think of it, GB 2 was a finanical success and for it time did well with audiances ,even if it wasnt as popular as the first08/02/2015 - 12:45am

MechaTama31: I think they're better off trying to do something different, than trying to be exactly the same and having every little difference held up as a shortcoming. Uncanny valley.08/01/2015 - 11:57pm

MechaTama31: Having the original cast didn't do much for... that pink-slimed atrocity which we must never speak of.08/01/2015 - 11:56pm

Mattsworkname: Andrew: If the new ghostbusters bombs, I cant help but feel it'll be cause it removed the origonal cast and changed the formula to much08/01/2015 - 8:31pm

Andrew Eisen: Not the best look but that appears to be a PKE meter hanging from McCarthy's belt.08/01/2015 - 7:34pm

Mattsworkname: You know what game is a lot of fun? rocket league. It' s a soccer game thats actually fun to play cause your A Freaking CAR!08/01/2015 - 7:02pm

Mattsworkname: Nomad colossus did a little video about it, showing the world and what can be explored in it's current form. It's worth a look, and he uses text for commentary as not to break the immerison08/01/2015 - 5:49pm

Mattsworkname: I feel some more mobility would have made it more interesting and I feel that a larger more diverse landscape with better graphiscs would help, but as a concept, it interests me08/01/2015 - 5:48pm

Andrew Eisen: Huh. I guess I'll have to check out a Let's Play to get a sense of the game.08/01/2015 - 5:47pm

Mattsworkname: It did, I found the idea of exploring a world at it's end, exploring the abandoned city of a disappeared alien race and the planets various knooks and crannies intriqued me.08/01/2015 - 5:46pm

Andrew Eisen: Did it appeal to you? If so, what did you find appealing?08/01/2015 - 5:43pm

Mattsworkname: Its an interesting concept, but it's not gonna appeal to everyone thats for sure,08/01/2015 - 5:40pm

Andrew Eisen: That sounds horrifically boring. Doesn't sound like an interesting use of its time dilation premise either. 08/01/2015 - 5:36pm

Mattsworkname: an observer , seeing this sorta frozen world and being able to explore without any restriction other then time. no enimes, no threats, just the chance to explore08/01/2015 - 5:34pm